Eatery business in Narayanganj booming

Narayanganj, for centuries, has been a trade hub due to its geographical location and closeness to the capital. Booming restaurant and street food businesses in the district are no exception in this regard.

Traders from all over the country regularly visit the famous port city by the Shitalakhya River of the district due to its expanding market for jute, soap, yarn, hosiery business and the textile industry. Centring these businesses, restaurants of various types have been established all over the district.

While even a few decades ago there were only a handful of restaurants in the district. Nowadays, various types of food establishments are found at every corner. Narayanganj town has now become a hub for food lovers.

There are various multi-cuisine food establishments around the main points of the city including the main road of the city, BB Road, Chashara Balur Math, College Road, and Jamtala. Fast food restaurants are the most popular among the food lovers.

The most popular restaurants include Spicy Pizza, Sultan’s Dine, Kacchi Bhai, La Vista, Blue Pier, Vooter Bari, KFC, Grand Hall, Cinnamon, Crown Buffet, Green Valley, Salt and Pepper, Tittle-Tattle, Chit Chat, Chabaw, Coffeeholic Cafe, Chaader Pahar and New China Junction. These restaurants are crowded with diners of all ages day and night.

Afzal Garnet, the owner of Spicy Pizza, told The Business Post that there has been a huge expansion of restaurants in Narayanganj in the past few years.

“Fast food restaurants are more popular among the youth. However, ours caters to food lovers are of all ages. We have both continental, Asian and fast food,” he said, adding that their goal is to offer good quality food in a homely environment.

Tarikul Sujan, a shareholder of Salt and Pepper Restaurant, said, “Our top priority is providing good quality food. We also ensure a nice environment for our customers to enjoy the food,” he said.

He further said that the food review groups on social media play a role in the restaurants being popular or getting more customers.

Food Lovers of Bangladesh and Foodies of Narayanganj are the two most popular food review groups on Facebook. The customers share their experiences and review the foods by rating them according to the quality.

Alongside financial changes, people’s needs and wants have changed over the decades. Nowadays, getting food delivered to home has also become popular due to convenience. There are many mobile apps that offer food delivery within a short time.

Foodpanda and HungryNaki are currently two of the most popular food delivery services in Narayanganj.

Moniruzzaman Monir, president of the Narayanganj Restaurant Owners Association and owner of Monir Hotel, said the district’s restaurant business has expanded significantly over the last few years.

“Even a few years ago people were not so inclined towards eating out. But nowadays it has become more common for people of all ages to go out and eat at restaurants,” he said, adding that the food establishments prioritise food quality.

In response to a question, Monir said, it was not possible to get an accurate account of the trade. “By my estimation, the restaurants of the district make a daily average sale of almost Tk one crore,” he added.

Narayanganj’s food establishments throughout history

Even though the town is now booming with all sorts of restaurants, in the past, traders used to bring dry foods with them while travelling here as food establishments were rare.

One of the oldest and most popular among them was the tea house Bose Cabin, established in 1921 during the British period. Another similar establishment Banerjee Cabin was equally popular in the district.

During the Pakistan era, from 1950 to 1960 several floating restaurants including Babul Restaurant, Gulistan, and Gulbahar became popular in the district’s trade hub Launch Terminal area. However, these establishments no longer exist.

From 1947 to 1969, Man Babu’s Cabin No 5 was quite popular in the district. Roushnia Hotel, Mujib Hotel, Maura Hotel, Mohamaya Boarding, and Sri Durga Hindu Hotel were notable for their food. Among these, Maura Hotel near the Chashara Station area is still popular among food lovers.

In 1968, the first Chinese cuisine restaurant named South China Restaurant was established in the town. In the post-war period two more similar restaurants, Kaifeng and Anjin were established.

The district’s first bakery named Alexander Bakery was established in Digubabu Bazar in 1930. Before then foreign trading companies used to bring bread from Kolkata and sell 20 loaves for Tk one. However, there were four-five biscuits factories back then in the Paikpara area.

According to district administration sources, there are 116 licensed restaurants in Narayanganj. But among them, 49 are currently closed due to various reasons. Currently, there are 67 licensed restaurants in the district.